Terrorist Groups of the Maveric Universe
Black Terror organizations The Brotherhood of Mutants, originally known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (although its members themselves never used the term), is a fictionalMarvel Comics supervillain team devoted to mutant superiority over normal humans. They are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men. The original Brotherhood was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964). The group's roster and ideology have varied from incarnation to incarnation, ranging from world domination to serving as a terrorist group that targets anti-mutant public figures. They are almost always at odds with the more peaceful X-Men, though on rare occasions the two sides have allied against a common threat. The Brotherhood was founded by Magneto and its members were his primary allies in his early battles with the X-Men during the 1960s. The original Brotherhood ultimately disbanded, with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch going on to become members of the Avengers. In 1981, the Brotherhood of Mutants was revived under the leadership of Mystique while the group's most visible incarnation during the early 1990s was led byToad. With each additional incarnation, the group abandoned its political ideology and regressed to the status of "hired goons." Since the end of the 1990s, several incarnations have sought to return to the political roots. The first Black Zero ,although later described as a "clone liberation movement" on Atlantis-Prime, Black Zero was described as a "terrorist" organization that was ultimately responsible for the destruction of Krypton: in the Third Age of Krypton, Kryptonians extended their lives by maintaining clones in suspended animation (the Clone Banks), which they then harvested for body parts. Trouble in Kryptonian society concerning this issue emerged after it became publicly known that a prominent citizen raised a copy of herself in order to marry this clone to her own son. The enraged son publicly confronted his mother (after presumably killing the clone wife) and shot her, but was forcibly stopped from killing himself. After widespread public knowledge ensued concerning the fact that a clone was allowed to achieve full sentience as a living being, a new Kryptonian war began. Prominently featured in this war was the Black Zero organization, which acted against this "genetic slavery"; this began the War of Clone Rights, which lasted for a millennium. In their final act, Black Zero detonated a device that would later become known as the Destroyer. In essence, this device functioned as a giant nuclear gun, that fired a concentrated, sustained burst of nuclear energy directly into Krypton's core. Though subsequently destroyed by an ancestor of Jor-El himself, the Destroyer's effect would later be fully realized; It would cause a chain reaction deep within Krypton that would later obliterate the planet.The Mutant Liberation group consisted of young terrorist mutants, formed under the mutant time-traveler Stryfe. After his apparent death, the group reformed under Reignfire. A second Black Zero group appeared in the 2005 graphic novel, Superman: Infinite City.The Mutant Liberation Front first appeared in New Mutants #87 (the same time as Cable, they both had a cameo on the last page of #86). The MLF was primarily the antagonist of the New Mutants and their later incarnation, X-Force. They also fought the second incarnation of X-Factor and were eventually defeated by the X-Men during the "X-Cutioner's Song". A second incarnation was assembled later by a villain known as Reignfire. The team seemed mainly organized of disillusioned, anarchic mutant youths. Stryfe founded the group sometime after coming to the 20th century (from roughly 2,000 years in the future). They were likely assembled as a tool while Stryfe assembled his master plan which he executed in the "X-Cutioner's Song" storyline. The exact size of the organization is unknown, but they were seen to have had several advanced bases around the world and employed a number of presumably human guards. When the team first appeared, it was during the debut of new New Mutants artist Rob Liefeld, and the team was his creation (with Louise Simonson). Their first mission was to rescue Rusty and Skids, two New Mutants who had been captured by the government. Rusty and Skids would not be seen for some time later, but when they were it was revealed that they stayed with the group due to mind control devices Stryfe implanted in them. It was never indicated that any of the others members had similar implants. After the organization was dismantled in the "X-Cutioner's Song", four of the imprisoned members (Forearm Reaper, Tempo and Wildside ) were liberated and recruited by a mysterious villain named Reignfire, who was believed to be a futuristic version of Sunspot. Already among the ranks of the new MLF were former New Mutant member Dani Moonstar (undercover on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Locus. X-Force'sFeral also defected to the MLF, and Tempo betrayed them and went her own way. After a few minor missions, including a group that infiltrated Muir Island to obtain information on the Legacy Virus, the group was captured by members of Operation: Zero Tolerance and never reformed. Organization The Scourge was originally depicted as an individual vigilante dedicated to the assassination of criminals. This person, whose true name has never been revealed, was seen over the course of several months murdering known supervillains. The Scourge would approach a supervillain in disguise, shoot him or her with an explosive-tipped bullet, shout his catchphrase ("Justice is served!"), and disappear. This first Scourge's killing spree reached its apex in Captain America #319, where he gunned down eighteen such criminals at an underworld meeting which was, ironically, held to devise a way of countering the menace of the Scourge. When Captain America captured the Scourge in the following issue, the character claimed to be the brother of the Enforcer, whom Scourge had killed because his sibling's criminal activities had shamed their father. He claims that this crime led to him creating the Scourge persona with help from a private investigator only identified as "Domino", who provided him detailed information on the supervillain community. Immediately after making this confession, the Scourge was himself shot and killed by an unseen assailant, who was heard to cry "Justice is served!" in the fashion of the Scourge's other killings. Some time later, in Captain America #350, it is revealed that the Scourge is actually the creation of the Red Skull, who states that he created the Scourge as his personal assassin, with Albert Malik, the communist villain who assumed the identity of the Red Skull during the 1950s, as one of this version's confirmed kills. This was apparently a ruse by the Skull, as during the 1994 U.S. Agent miniseries, it is suggested that the Scourge is ultimately an identity used by several people, all of whom were financed by the original Angel, a hero from the World War II era of Marvel Comics, who had been driven to vigilantism in recent years. His Scourge agents operate through subterfuge to get close to targets, then kill them. The organization operates through behind the scenes direction by Angel, and under him are several individual Scourge agents capable of autonomous action. A man named Domino worked for the organization, but the identities of most Scourges are unknown, with the exceptions of Vagabond, Caprice, and Bloodstain. A member must be a legal adult willing to submit to thorough investigation of his or her personal background and swear an oath of loyalty to the principles of the Scourge organization. Any Scourge attempting to reveal the existence of the organization would be assassinated by another member. When not in disguise, a Scourge wears an all-white coat and hat, and a skull-like mask. Most Scourges are armed with a .50 cal Thompson machine gun with a sawed-off barrel and stock using a special purpose 5-round magazine. Each .50 cal round is equipped with an acceleration activated, delay-triggered explosive shell which exhibits the signature sound of "pum-SPAAK" in the comic book panels. Scourges also use radio devices for communication with Domino, as well as makeup and costumes for disguise. = History The Church of Humanity preaches that Man is created in God's image, but Mutants are not. They are the more radical offshoot of the Friends of Humanity anti-mutant group, but with a religious discourse, similar to the Purifiers, the followers of Reverend William Stryker. The Church of Humanity is similar to real-life white supremacist religious groups such as the Christian Identity movement. Church of Humanity crucified some mutants on the lawn on the X-Mansion including Skin, Magma and Jubilee. Archangel used his healing blood to revive Magma and Jubilee, but, apparently, Skin, among several others didn't have the same luck. The X-Men investigate and find the headquarters of the Church of Humanity. Fictional group history The Acolytes were first a group of desperate mutants on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, originally led by Fabian Cortez. Magneto housed them on his space station, Asteroid M, giving the mutants refuge. Due to events arranged and manipulated by Fabian Cortez, the first group of Acolytes perished. Cortez used their deaths and the assumed death of Magneto as martyrdom to further his cause against normal humanity.X-Men vol. 2 #1-3 Cortez formed and led a second group of Acolytes whose first mission was to attack a school for the handicapped, Our Mother of the Sacred Heart, to find a child who would one day become a powerful mutant. The X-Men interfered with their attack and the Acolytes retreated. Afterwards, the Acolytes kidnapped Moira MacTaggert. Fabian Cortez’s reason was to ascertain whether Magneto was alive. Moira was rescued by the X-Men.Uncanny X-Men #298-300 The Acolytes’ next attack was on a hospital. Four members of the Acolytes were involved in killing several dying, hospitalized humans. Next, the team attempted an aborted attack on a military base. They were opposed by X-Factor and their mercenary ally Random. The attack on the base actually proved beneficial because it was a way for Fabian to attempt to coerce Quicksilver, the son of Magneto, to join his cause.X-Factor vol. 1 #92 Meanwhile, Magneto returned to hatch his plan of revenge. Magneto recruited Exodus, in order to reclaim the Acolytes in his name.X-Force vol. 1 #25 Fall of Avalon After the events of "Fatal Attractions" and the "Age of Apocalypse", the Acolytes found a cocoon drifting in space. They brought it aboard and awoke Holocaust. Holocaust went on a rampage, killing several members of the Acolytes; Javitz, Rusty Collins and Milan. In his duel with Exodus, the Acolytes’ new space station, Avalon, was destroyed."X-Men" vol. 2 #42 (July 1995) Jean Grey and Cyclops were teleported there by Voght to help the remaining Acolytes. Skids was rescued by Jean Grey, while former X-Man Colossus put a comatose Magneto into a lifepod and sent him to Earth. Meanwhile Cyclops crash-landed with some of the 'hardcore' Acolytes and ended up in the Australian Outback, it was his ingenuity and knowledge and the assistance of Scanner that kept them alive.X-Men vol. 2, #44 Genosha Some time passed before the Acolytes reformed. When Magneto was granted control of Genosha, he reconstituted the Acolytes, with new and old, surviving members. He used the Acolytes as a force to help him gain control over the war-torn island. After the civil war, the Acolytes and Genosha prospered, but the prosperity did not last. After the "Eve of Destruction" storyline, the Acolytes were not prepared for the worst. Genosha was attacked by a “wild Sentinel” programmed by Cassandra Nova. Genosha was destroyed along with millions of its mutant population. Most of the Acolytes remained unaccounted for, with only Exodus, Voght, Senyaka, Cargill and Unuscione known to be alive at the time. Later more Acolytes showed up to be alive as well.New Avengers #18''Uncanny X-Men'' #492 After M-Day Later it was revealed Scanner is still alive but de-powered after the events of M-Day.New Avengers #18 The Acolytes resurfaced after the events of "Decimation", consisting of returning members Exodus and Cargill, Random who aided them in a mission before, and former Mutant Liberation Front member Tempo. They planned to use S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier to find the locations of latent mutants, but discovered the mutant gene had been wiped out making the remaining mutants an endangered species. After a battle with the X-Men, the Acolytes fled and sought out a way to replenish the mutant population. Exodus, Cargill, Tempo, Unuscione, and Random were confirmed to be members of the newest incarnation of the team,X-Men vol. 2 #201 as well as Senyaka, still in his Acolytes uniform, who took on Deadpool on the island of Providence while the Marauders Gambit and Sunfire attacked Cable. It has been revealed that the Acolytes were being used by Sinister to obtain Destiny's Diaries and kill Blindfold.X-Men vol. 2 #202 Messiah Complex As the Marauders, the X-Men and the Purifiers race to find the first mutant baby born since M-Day, the X-Men seek out former Acolytes Projector, Neophyte, Gargouille and Vindaloo to try to interrogate information to Exodus' whereabouts as they believe that he and Sinister reached the child first.Uncanny X-Men #492 Afterwards, they track down Amelia Voght for the same purpose where they finally receive the information they were looking for.X-Factor (vol. 3) #25 X-Men: Legacy The Acolytes, finally joined by Amelia Voght, were last seen in X-Men: Legacy, where Exodus attempts to revive Professor X after being shot by Bishop. He manages to repair the physical part of Xavier's brain, but not give it the spark it needs to fully reactivate. For help, Exodus turned to his former leader, Magneto, even though he was disgusted the former great leader was now a lowly human. Erik, along with Karima Shapandar, managed to get a reaction going in Xavier's brain to get him to awaken, though minus much of his memories. However, before they could leave, Frenzy, disgusted that her team was even helping Xavier to begin with, let her emotions boil over and attacked, attempting to kill Xavier, but was subdued when Magneto fired a laser into her eye. Exodus came upon this scene, and became infuriated that one of his mutants was harmed by a human, and aimed to kill his former leader, but not before Xavier challenged him to a fight on the psychic plane. Xavier won, and he, Erik, and Karima left the Acolyte hideout and went their separate ways.X-Men: Legacy #225 Recently, Xavier returned to New Avalon and convinced Exodus to disband the group and find a new way to help mutantkind. While Exodus decided to embark on a personal pilgrimage to this effect, Amelia Voght, Random, and Karima decide to relocate to San Francisco (possibly to join the X-Men). Tempo was still undecided on her course of action, but was considering joining them while Joanna Cargill and Carmella Unuscione had not made any decision one way or the other. However, Cargil was later seen in San Francisco in the midst of anti-mutant rioting incited by Simon TraskX-Men: Legacy #225Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1 Ideology While later incarnations of the Brotherhood promoted the group's existence as a political and ideological rival to Professor Charles Xavier's dream of peace with humans, the group was originally conceived as simply a small, but powerful army of minions gathered by Magneto to aid in his schemes for world domination. But since the group's second incarnation, the group has become a much more politically motivated group designed for use of violence to provide justice and lead the so-called 'mutant revolution' against mankind. One of the greater ironies of the group has been its use of "Evil" in its name. Since the early 1990s, writers have attempted to explain this away by having Toad describe it as irony, based upon the perceived notion that all mutants are "evil." Later writers have opted instead to simply drop "Evil" from the group's name and refer to the group as "The Brotherhood of Mutants" or simply the Brotherhood. In Earth-X, Uatu explained that Magneto chose it so that, as the opposing side, Charles would be forced to assume the role of "Good," and that Magneto believed that by locking Charles into absolutes of morality, he could manipulate him. Many of the group's members have been shown to be past victims of anti-mutant prejudice, which has made the group a haven for many mutants who feel they are outcasts and pariahs. While many of these outcast mutants have willingly embraced the violent aspects of the Brotherhood's ideology, several have ultimately rejected it and left the group because of it. Most notably, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the group due to their disdain for Magneto's various schemes for world domination to join the Avengers, a group of heroes dedicated to help save the world as opposed to ruling it Members Most recently, the name "Black Zero" was used by an elite Kryptonian military force, under the command of Ursa. This unit included Thara Ak-Var's parents. The unit, except for Ursa, was killed attempting to defend Kandor from Brainiac.Action Comics Annual #12